Howard Kendrick
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim — No. 47
Second baseman
Born: July 12, 1983 (1983-07-12) (age 26) Jacksonville, Florida
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 26, 2006 for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Career statistics (through 2009 season)
Batting average	.302
Home runs	22
Runs batted in	167
Teams
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2006–present)

Kendrick playing for the Salt Lake Bees, Triple-A affiliates of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, on June 15, 2009.

Howard "Howie" Joseph Kendrick III (born July 12, 1983 in Sarasota, Florida) is a Major League Baseball second baseman for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

He attended West Nassau High School (Callahan, Florida) and St. John's River Community College (Palatka, Florida), where he was named Conference Player of the Year. Kendrick was not highly recruited out of high school and had difficulty finding a place to play. He tried out for several community colleges until SJRCC finally offered him a place to play. Sports Illustrated described how he was scouted.

"The Angels found him, if only by chance. On a whim Kotchman went to see Kendrick play in Tampa in early 2002 after hearing about him from Ernie Rossean, the coach at Brevard Community College outside Orlando. After watching a few minutes of BP, Kotchman ran to his car to get his video camera. "My goodness, the kid hit the ball," he recalls. "I couldn't believe there weren't other scouts there. And other JCs cut this guy? What were they thinking?" For the remainder of the season, Kotchman wouldn't even approach Kendrick at games, lest his secret get out. In '02 Anaheim took Kendrick in the 10th round of the draft. As for why he went undiscovered for so long, both Kendrick and Kotchman are somewhat flummoxed, though each ends up blaming geography. "His school was way out in the sticks, and he didn't play summer ball," says Kotchman, whose son, Casey, plays alongside Kendrick in the Angels infield. "Hey, I'm just glad we were the ones that found him." ^[1]

He was drafted after one year.

He is sometimes referred to by fans as "HK-47" due to his initials and jersey number. Kendrick earned the nickname "Truck" from former Angels pitching coach Bud Black, due to the similarity of his last name to Eddie Kendricks (of The Temptations), and his song Keep On Truckin'.[1]

Kendrick was drafted in the 10th round of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft, and named the #1 prospect in the Texas League in 2005 by Baseball America, and was called "the clear standout" in a league that also featured Kendry Morales, Erick Aybar and Andre Ethier.^[2] He was named the 12th top prospect by Baseball America in 2006.^[3]

[edit] Major league career

Kendrick had a one-on-one collision with actor Ben Affleck during his rookie season in the stands on the first base side of Fenway Park. On a foul ball that was hit towards where Affleck, accompanied by actress Jennifer Garner, was sitting, Kendrick snatched the ball from the outstretched arms of Affleck, recording the out. Fans sitting nearby bothered Affleck about not taking the ball away from Kendrick. The event landed Kendrick's picture in People magazine. In an edition of the syndicated Access Hollywood, Kendrick presented Affleck an autographed baseball for his birthday as a token of sympathy for the actor's misfortune at Fenway Park.

Kendrick hit his first home run against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on July 26, 2006. After Adam Kennedy signed as a free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals during the 2006-2007 offseason, Kendrick made his expected move to be the new starter at second base for 2007. He batted .322 in 88 games and again batted over .300 in 2008.

Kendrick struggled in the first half of the 2009 season, only batting .233 with 4 homers, and was optioned to the minors. After being recalled from Triple-A, he batted .330 with 5 homers.

Kendrick is notorious for being a "yankee killer". He has a .426 career batting average against The New York Yankees. Angels manager Mike Scioscia will almost always play him during games against the Yankees because of this.

[edit] Relationship to kids

Howie Kendrick has been know to be kid friendly as he gives autographs every game day at Angeles Stadium before the game.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• No. 3 - MLN FAB50 Baseball 2006 – Minor League News
• Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects: 2006
• Minor League Splits and Situational Stats
• CBS Sportsline - Message Boards Young Prospects